FULL ARTICLE

Beijing's new airport welcomes first Airbus A380

Beijing, China - Beijing Daxing Airport welcomed first Airbus A380. China Southern Airlines has landed at the new airport of Beijing with an Airbus A380.

The superjumbo of the Chinese carrier landed at the Beijing Daxing Airport without passengers on board, but with a full cabin crew, for the first technical test.

The new airport of Beijing, which is currently under construction is expected to be operational in September.

On May 13, China Southern's Airbus A380 took off from the Beijing International and landed at the Daxing International after half an hour.

The superjumbo became the fourth, but the largest aircraft to land at the Daxing so far after an A350-900 from China Eastern Airlines, a Boeing B747-8 from Air China and a B787-9 from Xiamen Airlines.

With this final landing, the Chinese authorities completed the approval process of the three previously built runways and their instrument landing systems for the operations.

The Daxing International Airport is located 46 kilometers south of Beijing at Daxing District. It is due to open at the end of September with the first expansion stage for around 45 million passengers per year.

In the medium term, the airport will be expanded with eight runways and become the largest airport in the world.

China Eastern and China Southern Airlines plans to transfer most of their Beijing routes to the Daxing International in the coming years. The airport facilities of the two companies are almost finished.

Another Chinese operator Xiamen Air will move all of its flights to the new airport next year in March.

China Southern has five Airbus A380 and the airline uses them for flights from Shenzhen to Los Angeles, as well as for flights from Shenzhen to Beijing and between Beijing and Guangzhou.